6 x 7s - A Unique UCT Tradition

Last week, I was lucky enough to witness an old, annual UCT tradition. The six by sevens. Now, I suppose I'll just start from the beginning.

I was in a small group discussing something in my Traditional Religion course, when a girl asked "What are you doing today around 4-5pm?" I asked why. She explained that the six by sevens would be happening today. Here is the premise as it was described to me:

Lots of students get together on the cricket field, say 150 or so. They each bring a six pack of beer, and will start doing laps around the field. After each lap, you take a break and drink a can of beer. Thus... after seven laps, you've had six beers. I don't think many people actually get to the seventh lap. The other part of the event is that most people have also drank some color of food dye, and many are also dressed pretty random.

The result: around the fourth lap people start puking funny colors. And the point of the game is to puke on other people. So you end up getting very drunk people chasing one another puking everywhere. My mouth stood open when she finished telling me what would happen. "I have to see this," I thought. So I went home and got my camera.

When we arrived, I started seeing all the costumes, which were matching for some of the 'teams'. And what ensued was not very much more complicated than what was described to me, with a few exceptions. It was surprisingly well run, and college debauchery at its finest. Something that would certainly not be allowed on UW's campus.

Campus security was there, but only to make sure things went well. They said last year it was not allowed, and consisted of people running around the field, drinking, being chased and tackled by security (perhaps more fun). Also, remember that the word here is "chunder", spoken chun-dah. . As in: Bru! You just chundered all over my back! (which happened a lot). There were even cases of people spinning one another, or ganging up as a group and chundering on one person.

Lots of observers.

It must be a white student's tradition, because everyone was white (and blue, I guess). I'm still trying to figure out the race relations at the university, and in general I suppose, so it is one of the first things I notice. There was also a troop of 12 guys in diapers, although from speaking to some people I found out that they are called the dummies, and are some elite group that you have to be invited into. They had a full marching routine with chants and everything, it was impressive.

The dummies.

If you'd like to see the full scene, click on the title image up top. Otherwise, I feel like the rest of the story would be best told through photos:

On Music

One of the chief reasons I came to Africa is probably the music. Since the beginning of high school I have collected so much African music, mostly traditional and reggae, gospel inspired in some ways... but just remarkable songs. I love that music -- the feeling involved, the rhythm, the narratives, but warned myself about thinking about Africa in unreal terms. Romantic terms, maybe?

Who are the people that make this music? How do you really picture, or even relate to, or place yourself within a culture you don't know? That's what I was having a hard time with. I love this music, but I need to know the people.

And ironically, I find myself turning to it to feel connected to home. In the middle of the night, when the nostalgic heartstrings of familiarity are pulling, I can turn to music that feels like home. It is familiar, but feels here, too. It's neat.

And occasionally over the last week I've found myself thinking "I can't believe this is happening, that I'm here." I went to an Asian restaurant for dinner two nights ago, and since it was Sunday, not many people were there. There was a live band playing though, essentially just for us and another table. I closed my eyes and heard this beautiful song, in French, from the Congo. It sounded like one I have, Notre Devoir, an Africa reggae song. Just this incredible accent, voice, and music behind it. And I opened my eyes and there they were, singing for us.

Is this happening?

On Saturday night, I went to a music bar on Long Street. They had a Brazilian drumming band, two djembes and a singer, complete with psychedelic lights and a screaming, jumping crowd that moved the floor of the building several inches up and down (which for a moment instilled grave concerns of structural instability. but for just a moment). They began a sing along of the South African national anthem to drumming, Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika, or God Bless Africa in Xhosa. I thought:

"I'm in Africa!"

University of Cape Town (UCT)

If you thought walking up Bascom Hill at UW was bad, try moving around the University of Cape Town. My campus was built into the side of a mountain! Not just any mountain, either, it is nestled on the side of Devil's Peak (which you could see in my Table Mountain panorama).

I just wanted to talk a bit about where I'm going to school, because as I've been going to class this past first week... I keep being surprised when I look over a building and see mountain peaks. Just walking along... switching classes, and to the left of me is a skyline. Not to mention that to the right of me is the whole city. That's right, since we're so high up, looking out some of the classrooms is in fact like stopping at a lookout point. I've still not gotten used to it, and hopefully I don't.

It was established about twenty years before UW, in 1829. The main campus is arranged into three different levels, easily named Lower Campus, Middle Campus, and Upper Campus. They run buses all day to the residence halls and around campus, similar to the Route 80 at UW, but with a few key differences. First, they are blue and called the Jammie Bus (much cooler name and color). Second, you board on the left side of the bus (remember, opposite side of the road? Don't worry, I keep forgetting, too... like when I slammed my taxi driver's door after getting out because I thought the passenger side was left open). Third, there are TONS of them! At any given time, UW is running three or four 80's, I think, and one or two 85's. There are 26 Jammie Shuttles, and they all seem to be running throughout the day. It isn't uncommon to see 6 stopped at one area at any given time. Although, I suppose when you need to transport students up and down a mountain for class... you need a lot of transport power. Lastly, the drivers are crazy. They don't really talk to the students, and can be spotted weaving through traffic down the main road at around 45-50mph sometimes. Kara described it as a terrible rollercoaster the other day (DOWNhill).



Upper Campus is marked with the prestigious Jameson Hall, pictured above. It is similar to Bascom. Upper is also where most of the instruction happens, and also where all my classes are. In terms of academic standing, UCT is widely accepted as the best university in South Africa, as well as on the continent. I've been very impressed with my courses so far, which I'll get to soon.

Perhaps one of the best views on campus is simply in front on Jameson Hall, on top of the stairs leading to it. Here is a panorama looking in 360º around a stationary point. The best way to view it is to enlarge it to fill the screen vertically, and scroll horizontally. You'll get a sense of what it feels to be standing there.

The view from Upper Campus

Here are the courses I'm taking:

AGI2000F - Understanding Gender (4 credits)
Offered through the African Gender Institute, the aims of this course include increasing student's awareness of the relevance of gender issues to their lives and developing a critical understanding of the multiple and contested meanings of gender in contemporary African and international contexts. It introduces key concepts such as sex, sexuality, gender, identity and culture and explores interconnections between gendered dynamics, 'race', class, generation and location. Topics offered may also include case studies on representations of gender in popular culture, gender based violence, HIV/AIDS and political issues in the South African context.

REL2044F - African Traditional Religion (4 credits)
This course explores the religious heritage and history of Africa through specific case studies in African tradition religion. Special attention is given to continuities and changes in the indigenous religions of Africa through studies of religious beliefs, ritual practices, ways of knowing, techniques of healing, and the social formations of the household, polity, and religious specialists.

CAS4005F - Race, Culture and Identity in Africa (6 credits)
A seminar offered by the Centre for African Studies, this course sets out to do two things. The first is to survey developments in post-apartheid society, with a particular emphasis on issues of culture and identity. The second is to provide some conceptual tools to make sense of these developments. It focuses on several case studies, including the making of contemporary space, anti-apartheid cinema, the politics of heritage and identity, and institutional self-fashioning and the reinvention of UCT.

All the Semester Study Abroad students on the first day of orientation.

In general, 40-50% of your final grade at UCT is dependent on a final exam, which is a lot more than in the US. The week before classes was also a bit hectic, since registration requires that you physically go to the course department, and get the department head to sign a form saying you are allowed in the course and have completed prerequisites. Once you have all pre-approvals (which can take a while with lines and walking, and also when people aren't there to sign, as I found out), you come back a different day for registration, which for me meant about 3 hours in lines before talking to someone that signs off on your course load and schedule. Then you get in another line to have them capture the information into their database. Since you are then registered, you are free to get your student ID... which took another hour. Then having the ID allowed me to activate my email address. So yes, some of the systems and procedures seem a bit outdated and inconvenient, but it was only a day or two of headaches, and I just reminded myself that this isn't home, more students have limited access to computers, and at least it is warm out.

Warm enough, actually, that each person has their own air conditioning vent in the Kramer Law lecture hall. I didn't notice until I was freezing, and couldn't figure out where the cold was coming from.

Chilling.

As I mentioned, South Africa loves to braai. The day before classes first met, we had a welcome braai for all first year and international students, right on the rugby fields. It was apparently sponsored by Coca-Cola, because the branding was everywhere. Look to the right in the following picture, and you'll see the city.

Setting up.

The food was actually pretty questionable, so we didn't stay long... but it was one of the first chances I had to see a lot of the student body together. I'd been trapped in orientations for several days, and was just struck by how diverse the campus feels. This is in contrast to UW, where the campus feels, unfortunately, white. I don't want to ramble on about how refreshing this change is, but certainly is interesting and refreshing to see so many different types of people walking around and talking on campus, dressed differently in some cases and speaking different languages. In fact, 20% of all students are from countries other than South Africa (with 38 African countries represented, and 104 countries worldwide).

At any rate, I love this campus. I may not be feeling the pride of being a Badger, or whatever the mascot is here (Tiger--apparently?), but the campus is beautiful, I'm really enjoying my classes, and I'm getting a workout from all the walking.

Anybody want to go to a party at Smuts Residence Hall? :-)

Top Ten Things I'm Struggling With

I've written lots of posts now about the amazing things that I've encountered and done over the last few weeks now, but everyone deserves a chance to rant a bit, as well. So here is my countdown of the top ten things that I've been struggling with recently. My shit list, so to speak...

10) Going up and down stairs after Table Mountain.

It has now been several days since my Table Mountain hike, but I'm still super sore. There are a lot of stairs on campus, and I've been doing a lot of walking back and forth from bus stations, and around the city. Either way, it's killing me, but will be over soon.

9) I go up and down stairs on the wrong side still.

No joke, I didn't realize how engrained road directions are in my head. When I get to a staircase (on campus, for example), I find myself walking up the right side, until a huge group starts walking down the same side. I'm doing it wrong! And I keep doing it wrong! Then I slowly try to get to the other side (see number 10).

8) Servers at Obz Café.

This is a smaller restaurant right in my neighborhood, and I'm so tired of the service there. I would stop going, but they have half price pizzas on Wednesdays. They bring you one water at the beginning of the meal, and never refill water until asked, and it can take 10 minutes for it to arrive. That's Africa time for you. We've also had many other bad experiences there, I don't want to get into it.

7) Howling dogs.

There are two dogs across the street from my bedroom window, and several others nearby. They regularly have wars in the morning, other times they sing to each other. Give me a tranquilizer gun, and I'll get back to sleep. Hell, a regular gun would also do fine.

6) Stuff molds so quickly in this country.

A loaf a bread molds within a few days, fruit within a few days, and a bag of potatoes that I bought was covered in mold in a week. And I've never had bananas mold... ever. They just get old. But three days after buying bananas the top of the bunch was moldy. I suppose the food is fresher and has less preservatives, but that doesn't do me very good after a few days.

5) I'm still without my debit card, and it probably won't come anytime soon.

After being pick-pocketed last week, I obviously have no debit card. Luckily, I took some money out the day before, and have been surviving on that since, but I'm now running low. They sent me a replacement, but it will likely take quite a while to arrive. I'm probably going to need to get a cash advance on my credit card soon.

4) Things are cheap and it makes me spend money much faster.

Yes, the exchange rate is very favorable. I mentioned how cheap it is to get food on campus, etc. I just bought two 40 oz. of beer for $2.00, and nice wine is only $3-$6 for a bottle. Groceries are also very cheap, and it makes it so easy to go out to dinner instead of cook at home. Or to pick up extra things at the store, or stop for ice cream and stuff like that. As a result, I'm probably burning through money faster than I would. See number five for why that is a problem.

3) Cockroaches.

They fumigated last week, they are back. I killed three last night, two were very small and had just hatched or something. They aren't nearly as bad, but they have returned.

2) There are no drinking fountains anywhere in this city.

I don't get it! If you know me well, you know how much water I drink in a day. At a restaurant, I usually go through four glasses of water (see gripe #8). I have only seen one drinking fountain in public since I arrived, and it was on the Table Mountain trail! They are nowhere on campus, how do people drink here?! I keep forgetting my water bottle, so I keep having to buy beverages on campus when I eat, which I normally don't do (see number 4).

And number one...

1) Everyone Smokes Everywhere.

This is driving me crazy, and I'll explain. I've never smoked, but cigarette smoke has become so rare on campus at UW that if I catch a whiff... I don't mind, and I almost like it for some reason. It's just something different. And no, not everyone smokes, but so many people do. Outside most buildings there are lots of students smoking, and every restaurant I go to the smoke is nearly inescapable. My religion class is two hours long (I'll talk more about my classes soon), and it typically has a 10 minute break halfway through. We were given the option of skipping the break to leave early yesterday, and after almost everyone opted to keep going and leave early, the professor asked how many smokers we had. There were two, so we took a 5 minutes break so people could smoke. Seriously!? I'm going to have the black lung by April.

Okay, I'm done complaining. I just had to vent a little. Below you will find one of the many things you, too, can waste your money on. It was only like $3.00 -- the fruit drink that is.  The water is what I 'bought' after asking the waitress for a water.  I suppose I should have said "bring me a free tap water that is in a cup and doesn't cost money."

I will have many exciting things to talk about in upcoming posts.

Table Mountain!

The city of Cape Town is unique for a couple of reasons. It is the oldest "city" in South Africa and maybe the continent, which has lended it the name "the Mother City". So, it has a very rich historical history of trading, colonization, and immigration. But geographically, the huge metropolis sits at the bottom of the continent, impressively nestled between a large plateau and two oceans. That plateau, of course, is Table Mountain, and it rises 3,500 feet above sea level. Well, I hiked it yesterday!

We started around 2:30pm. We took a cab to Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden. I got some nice photos of flowers, mostly for Lyndsey. Ling Ling... I got some proteas for you, as well as dead birds of paradise :-). We decided to take the route named Skeleton Gorge, which sounded ominous, challenging, and no doubt breathtaking at the same time.

The scenery on the way up felt a lot like the hikes that I did in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. Well kept, challenging, and long, but with less snow. Until we got to the ladders, that was new. They were actually very sturdy, and very fun. The hikers were three of my roommates (Maria, Justin, and Kara), and Stefen from Germany. As we got higher, we began seeing glimpses of the city through the trees. Once we got past most of the trees, we found a very nice view of the area.

The above photo of me was taken about 2.5 hours into the hike. And by the way, all photos that have me in them should be credited to Kara. It is difficult to get photos of me when I'm taking so many throughout the day. Onward! We were headed toward Maclear's Beacon, the highest point of the whole mountain. Once beyond the tree line, we wound around the side of the mountain, still climbing. This all felt very much like the first Lord of the Rings. I started humming "Fellowship of the Ring", but Kara didn't understand. She thought it was Auld Lang Syne... whatever. We reached the top in just under 3 hours (5:30pm). The view was breathtaking (pictured at the top of the post as the panorama. Click it for an enlarged version).

While it was pretty hot and sunny on the bottom, it was about 50 degrees and windy as hell up top. I would estimate the wind at 45-60mph, which is rough, because I have no idea. But it was easy to lose your balance from the wind and also very easy to be knocked off your feet. I rather enjoyed this next photo. Maria was attempting to light her cigarette (nearly impossible, I imagine), while Kara can be seen in the background clinging to a stone structure for dear life.  

Now, this is where I have to admit I lapsed on what to bring, while insisting that I know better. I only brought a t-shirt. And I've hiked at a lot of places. At Rocky Mountain NP, for example, the temperate can be 85 at the bottom, but 40 degrees up top, with expanses of snow and little wind cover. I've done that, and brought pants, a hat, and a sweatshirt. Well, it slipped my mind, and over the next two hours or so, I got a little chilly. Not so bad, though, because of the sun. It was at this point that we planned to cross the mountain, to reach the upper station for the cable car. This would offer a 5 minute ride down, and hopefully some new pictures. This took about 40 minutes, and was also very cool. For the height and the climate up top, it is so cool to see all the vegetation and some of the wild flowers. Here is a panorama of the top, headed toward the other side.

As we reached the other side, the sun was getting lower in the sky and offered some more views. I was getting excited to see a sunset over the city, but wasn't sure if we'd be around long enough because of the wind and temperature. One of the coolest things of being on a mountain at the bottom of a continent is that in almost every direction that you look... there's tons of water. A bay, the ocean, it's just so cool.

We finally reached the other side, which offered the best view of the city. We were able to get right up to the edge, overlooking everything. The skyline, downtown, suburbs, Table Bay, Robben Island, Lion's Head Mountain, Devil's Peak, the ship yard, the touristy waterfront. It was breathtaking.

Here is a panorama. From left to right you can see: the cables to the bottom, Lion's Head Mountain (which I like to think of as Pride Rock from the Lion King), Signal Hill, Cape Town and Table Bay, and Devil's Head on the right. It is from my 9 o'clock to my 3 o'clock perspective. Click for the close-up.

Getting cold, it was at this time that we began walking to the cable station, a few minutes away to head down to the bottom. We arrived, and quickly noticed a lack of people. It was CLOSED. Not running on Sunday's maybe? I still don't really know. So we're on top of a mountain, near sunset, and we've only seen at most 5 people since we reached the top (which was a while ago)... and the plan to get down wasn't happening. Awesome.

So what do you do? You find a trail, and go down... now. We began down Plattekip Gorge, a direct, stone stairway descent to the bottom. With limited sunlight, and exactly 2,509 feet down to go (tired at this point remember, hiking all day and it's 6:50pm)... we hustled. The problem with descending a mountain like that is with the knees. Putting constant resistance of your knees and ankles to go downhill starts to make everything shake after about 45 minutes. After about an hour of descent, the sun began setting. While beautiful, we methodically continued going down at different paces. Looking backward:

And looking forward, both a single photo and a panorama.

It was shortly thereafter that it got dark, and we all pulled out our cellphones for the little light accessory. My little Nokia 1200 may suck in a lot of ways, but my iPhone at home certainly doesn't have a flashlight as effective as this one. We finished the last half hour or so in the dark, and then began walking along a pitch black road toward the lower cable station. I called a cab from my phone to meet us. The view from the trail toward the end...

If you have never descended a large mountain in the dark, you should try it.... whether by choice or not. It felt very wrong to be walking along the foot of table mountain with merely flashlights and expensive cameras in Cape Town after dark. But we managed, and our cabbie drove us home at literally 60mph through the city streets. I would have objected, but I was far too exhausted and hungry. We got home around 9:30pm, and our planned 2-3 hour hike had come to a close. I've been taking it easy today, since I'm very sore. Below is a collection of photos with captions and better resolution, if you so desire. I managed to whittle my photos from an original 350, to my current 150. Below are just the highlights.

On this Valentine's Day

I'm missing you, Matthew.

Wrapping Up A Mostly Relaxing Week

It's a bit weird for me. I think most people at UW are preparing for midterms, and I start classes tomorrow (Friday). Actually, scratch that, the first day of lectures is actually on Monday. But here at UCT classes "meet" tomorrow, on Friday. And someone said that by "meet", they mean that you follow your Tuesday schedule... but lectures haven't actually started. I don't really understand, but I'm just going with the flow. When in Rome...

And since classes haven't started, I've been a real bum. I've been spending time in the pool everyday. It is the only way to stay cool! I mean, what is it, summer in Africa here? I've even found a hobby. I like to clean the pool. We have a vacuum that attaches to the filter, and I really enjoy using it to dive and suck up leaves and dirt. It is therapeutic and productive. As a result, I've been crowned the Pool Doctor. I'm not sure if this is true, but I heard that they don't use the term 'pool boy' here in South Africa because of the wildly negative historical connotations with the word 'boy'. Either way, I am now the pool doctor. And I do good work.

In other news, I got my wallet back. And I'm now thoroughly convinced that I was pick-pocketed. I was down on Lower Main Street at a restaurant, and went up to the bar for a moment. My wallet was gone shortly thereafter, but luckily with no money in it. I was contacted by a woman about a mile away that said one of her employees found it. So yes, I got everything back, and no they didn't get any money, which is satisfying. My first experience with crime in South Africa? Probably, and luckily it wasn't very eventful.

Also, our landlord is having people come tomorrow to spray for cockroaches in the kitchen (pesticide doctors, if you will). I'm a bit worried about all the chemicals, so we've all moved our food and dishes into our bedrooms, but I suppose that is of little comfort. I am way sick and tired of seeing cockroaches, though. I don't even try to kill them anymore. I don't want to deal with it. They aren't nearly as cute or amusing as the movie Wall•E would have you think.

I'm feeling a little overwhelmed by the sun tonight also. I spent another day at the beach surfing today, and got a bit burned. The problem is that no matter how much sun screen I put on, even waterproof, it washes away pretty quickly from the salt water. And my scalp is burned now, to which there is little that can be done. Surfing went way better today. The waves were better, my wet suit fit better, the board was nicer... things were just all around more legit. I got up for my longest time ever, and rode a wave for quite a while. Cowabunga!

I suppose that is it. This has been mostly a hodge podge update, but it is probably in order. I've been craving a Chiptole burrito a lot today. Also, I'm not sure what to expect for my first day at school tomorrow. For now, I leave you with this random South African fact: Instead of calling them traffic signals or stop-and-go lights, the things at intersections are called "robots" here. They even have ROBOT painted on the road as you approach them sometimes. I think Matt would like that.

And lastly, here is a long exposure photo that I took of our backyard tonight. It looks pretty lit up, but it is actually quite dark. And yes, that is the moon in the sky, as well as stars. I love our backyard! Good night, friends!

Wanted: One UW Credit Union Debit Card

If found: please return to me! Ugh. I can't find my wallet. And I don't know where it is. Luckily it only had my one debit card, my driver's license, ISIC card, and insurance card, all of which I have copies of on my computer.

I canceled the card. Now I hope I find the wallet. I bought that at Target with Kyle, David, and Eric so long ago... it was such a good wallet. Eff.

-----------------

Developing (8:11pm): It has been found! I had a pretty doldrums day after losing it, and apparently someone found the wallet and my UW Housing business card inside. She emailed my Housing account, got my Out of Office message, and talked to Mike, my boss. This is awesome! No word yet on whether the debit card is there, but it's already been canceled.

A Day of Surfing at Muizenberg Beach

I went surfing today!

I still don't start class until Friday, so we've been taking advantage of the time off by seeing and doing! We got up at 9am this morning, and headed off to the Observatory train station. I've not yet taken the train, but have heard stories. It is very cheap, and a good deal during the day... but you don't take it after night (unless carrying your glock). We bought our round trip tickets for a little over a $1 each, and hopped on about 20 minutes later.

It was about a half hour ride to Muizenberg beach, where we heard there is good surfing, as well as rentals at a nearby surf shop. There was lots of graffiti everywhere on the train and along the route. After getting all prepped, it was time for an obligatory pose photo...

Okay, down to business. On the way into the water, I stepped on some shells, which I then cracked, and cut my foot. It was minor, but a bit unnerving to be entering the infamous shark infested South African waters with an open wound. I figured I was overreacting though, and ran in. The water was a bit chilly, but the wet suits quickly helped that. We stayed in for about two hours, which was how long we rented the boards. It turned out to be a great deal, the surf shop charges only $10.00 for the board and wet suit rental for two hours. Is that normal? I thought it was cheap.

A word on wet suits and the African summer sun: I've been in our pool a lot this week. Like everyday, because it has been very hot. And since I have arrived, I've been wearing a lot of sunscreen. Like, 30-50 factor even to go toward campus. And I'm sick of wasting sun screen, because I'm sometimes not in the sun much! So, I didn't wear it the other day while in the pool for a few hours. I got quite red, particularly on my shoulders and neck. Scared of a beach with reflective sun, I put on a lot of sunscreen today to surf. Somehow I forgot that I'd be wearing a wet suit, but whatever. So, no, I didn't get burnt today for the most part. But the salt water washed off the sunscreen from my hands, and they got very red. And I look like I have red gloves that stop at my wrists. It is a bit irritating.

Two hours of drinking salt water was enough, though, so we headed home. I noticed along the way how much security is out to combat crime in the city. It seems that not only the city government has people out, but it is also common to see (I think) neighborhood watch volunteers with green vests on patrolling with walkie talkies. There were about 14 train stops between the beach and Obz, and I saw a security person at every stop. And on the way there we had an armed Police Constable riding with us. Similar to the security system on the house, I am comforted to have them around, but not sure if I should be nervous by the need for so much patrol and enforcement.

In any case, surfing made for some nice photos. Here are the rest. I'm so glad I bought my waterproof camera a few years ago. It is pretty jacked now, but still takes great photos, and can handle the salt water well!

A Saturday Braai at Nyanga Township

Late last week, Andrew, and employee from our landlord's company invited us to his place for a braai. He posted a sign-up on the fridge for anyone interested at the various houses in the area that they manage. At $15 a person... the price seemed a bit steep. After thinking it through, though, we realized that it covered transportation there and back, all the food, and all the drinks. Only three of us decided to go... not sure what to expect. Kara and I figured it was definitely worth it to attend at least once, so her, Justin, and I went.

Definitely the best thing I've done since I arrived. It was at the Nyanga Township, a 20 minute drive from where we are. As we arrived, it was pretty obvious that most of the houses were shanties, with poorly pieced together metal, wood, and whatever else they had. It was pretty busy with people in the streets, different vendors set up along the roads. Despite being a van of white people rolling in there in a big converted Sprinter van, we got lots of waves and smiles. I felt very welcomed for the most part, as well as struck by some of what I saw.

When we got to Andrew's house, we were greeted by a woman named Ivy and lots of adorable children. She welcomed us in Xhosa, and introduced us to the house, township, and family. She said something like "Thank you for coming! We want you to have fun, be comfortable, and enjoy your time here. Feel free to look around, but don't leave this street without asking one of us to show you around. Food will be ready in a while, and later on you'll be treated to a Xhosa song from some of my students. Most of all, be comfortable! Let us know if you don't like something, and ask any questions you want!" So that was pretty neat. I don't want to give the wrong impression, though, this house was pretty well off. It had a big stereo, TV, laptop... a nice house. It was the only one of the block, though, with bars on the windows. So I was trying to get a sense of how well off people were. A lot of the children weren't wearing shoes, and the ground was pretty hazardous. Not sure if that was preference or not, though.

What ensued was over five hours of dancing, eating, and playing with the children. I got to know most of them, and even showed off my backwards legs as an icebreaker. They loved everyone's digital cameras, and borrowed them for like and hour to take pictures of everything. I deleted lots of odd photos, but kept lot of others.

The food was great (for Jacob). I've been to something like six or seven braais this week (omg South Africans love to braai), with varying degrees of delectability. Some were good, others were sketch, this one was bomb. There were carrots in a sort of African curry sauce, potatoes with a honey mustard sauce and what looked like sesame seeds, chicken, beef, salad, and pop. Pop is a cornmeal type thing, which is made almost like instant mashed potatoes, by stirring the mix into boiling water. Quite plain, but a good staple food.

Strong as hell.

By the time we left, the children were giving hugs and saying goodbye. One of the frustrating things about the last few days, which was expected, is that we've done so many things it has been difficult to focus on one. It's been a survey, of sorts, of many activities. Here I got to hang out for a long time and actually connect with people. Before I left, I talked to an old man named Joe who, to start with, reminded me that Bush and Blair have ruined the world. But then went on to say that although Obama isn't actually black, he thinks he'll do good things. Next month there will be an election in South Africa, and he'll be voting for the third time since the fall of apartheid. He said, "I've voted three times, and nothing has changed for me. The government gave me this shanty, where I live, and nothing has changed for me."

A South African friend that was over at our house, Siya, put it into perspective: People think that as soon as you defeat apartheid there will be quick results to end poverty and what happened during its oppression. The people of South Africa could have revolted in the 90's and forcibly removed people from their expensive homes, but they chose peace, and it has its price. The government can only do so much, and simply voting won't change things, as many expect.

It was interesting to see and hear. Despite the situation and conversations, though, it was awesome to bridge barriers and spend the day together. Joe finished with hugging me and welcoming me again to the township, and invited us back for another party. Here are some photos from the day:


Clicking on a photo will bring you to a larger version.

A Video Slideshow Update

This has been a pretty packed week. As I mentioned, the first day of our orientation was a coach tour of the peninsula, different areas of Cape Town, the penguins on Boulder's Beach, as well as the famous Cape of Good Hope. The last few days have mainly consisted of lots of speakers... on many different topics. We've covered safety and crime in Cape Town and on campus, the libraries, technology, HIV/AIDS, information about registering for classes, as well as some general welcome addresses from UCT representatives.

I thought it would be interesting to see how the campus addressed the HIV/AIDS issue, since by some estimates, 28% or so of South Africa's population is HIV positive. I haven't really encountered too much obvious educational campaigning in the city. That being said, they've got a pretty active group on campus that works on education, information, and testing.

To finish the lectures off yesterday, we had two volunteering groups from the university speak to us. SHAWCO and Ubunye are both groups that work with youth in area high schools and townships... and I'd like to get involved with one of them, just not sure which yet. Afterward, we got on buses to visit a SHAWCO township site. Kara and I went to the Kensington site and saw a music school, as well as an elderly center, and a day care for parents that work during the day. The children woke up from their naps to sing Patty Cake, Patty Cake for us. It was probably the most adorable thing in the world.

Anyhow, I've been giving some thought to the best way to present photos, etc here. I decided to make a photo slideshow with some of the highlights of this week. I took something like 400 photos since I got here (all on my new camera), but here's the abridged version.



Click here to watch in HD!

If you'd like to look through the photos more closely, or see the explanations of any of them (I've got captions), you can go to this album. Higher quality, and explained!

Welcome To Cape Town

I still haven't gotten used to the roads and opposite lanes, I look the wrong way a lot. And I keep jumping back and forth between a feeling a paradise and a feeling of third world country. There is such a divide between classes, race, and privilege. I'd like to explore that a bit, a maybe take a relevant class. I schedule tomorrow morning, so I should figure that out soon! Hope everyone is well! As they say in Cape Town... Life is Good!